Cost of Living Information

There is a city wide response across the statutory and voluntary sector to make sure that Sheffield people worried about money and being able to afford to live, know what support is available and where to access it.

Sheffield City Council has created a Cost of Living Information Hub where you can find out about the local and national support available to help you during the crisis. This includes the Household Support Fund, which helps mainly with food and housekeeping costs, gas and electricity and white goods.

If you need urgent support coping with the rising cost of living crisis, you can contact Sheffield City Council‘s Community Helpline on 0114 273 4567 ( Monday to Friday 8:30am to 6pm). They can help to support you through a wide range of hardship grants and support schemes.

An extra phone number for people who want help directly with the Household Support Fund is available on 0114 273 5258

Sheffield City Council’s Worrying about Money Leaflet guides you to where to find help to manage your finances in Sheffield.

Sheffield City Council has produced a new NeighbourGood leaflet to read about what support is available. ( May ’23)

The Sheffield Money Support Guide is a new and developing website where you can search for advice and support with your finances and services or initiatives that help to ease the cost of living.

Voluntary Action Sheffield is supporting local community action, including the city’s network of Welcoming Places and Support Hubs where everyone is welcome to visit to spend time, stay warm, attend an activity, or find out information about cost of living support. Find out more here.

Community Trusted Assessors
Trusted Assessors can help people in hardship access the support they need with bills, household essentials and more. This can mean a big difference to someone without access to a computer or digital device or someone who speaks a community language. Each organisation is based in the heart of our communities and many are Welcome Places too. Here’s who can help:

Voluntary Action / Sheffield Citizens Advice Sheffield / ZEST / SADACCA Multiply / Department for Work and Pensions Sheffield / SACMHA Health & Social Care / Meadowhead Christian Fellowship / The Terminus / Grace Foodbank / Shelter / SOAR / ACT / SPRING / New Beginnings / Crystal Peaks Medical Centre / Sheffield Roma Network / Woodhouse Medical Centre / Woodhouse District and Community Forum / Sheffield Credit Union / South Yorkshire HA / Guinness HA / The Archer Project / Roundabout / Snowdrop S6 Foodbank / DePaul / Northern Counties / Sheffield Young Carers / Arches Housing / Clarion Housing Group / Great Places HA / Sanctuary Housing/ Methodist Homes / Anchor HA / ACIS HA / Together Housing / Homes Group

Help for Households on GOV.UK details a range of government support measures. It includes information about the ‘Energy Price Guarantee’ and sections on help with childcare, finding work, and transport costs.

Easy Read Information
Learning Disability England have created a section on their website with a range of cost of living resources , including links to lots of easy read printables

Mencap has released a factsheet on the cost of living crisis, giving information on how to cope with rising costs of food and energy and saving as much money as possible. You can see it here.

Inclusion London has produced a cost of living guide, which is also available in different coloured background easy read versions.

Speakup Self Advocacy has produced information under the title My home, my energy. I have the power!. This lists tips to help take control of your bills, stay warm and healthy and keep safe, which can be downloaded here. Check out their tips on Saving Money this Winter.

Disability Sheffield Cost of Living Blogs
As cost of living news comes in, we capture it in some of our blogs. You can sign up ( for free ) to become a Friend of Disability Sheffield to receive our regular news bulletins on this and other disability related topics.If you need support to complete the form, please get in touch with us on 0114 2536750 or email info@disabilitysheffield.org.uk

Here are our latest Cost of Living blogs/events:

Forced Prepayment Meter Guidance
Ofgem, the energy regulator, confirmed earlier this month that EDF, Octopus and Scottish Power have been given permission to restart involuntary Pre Payment Meter installations after meeting their set of conditions. They are still required to follow a robust set of rules which have a ‘Do not Install’ category for high risk customers.
View Article

Bags of Taste Delivered to your Door
Bags of Taste offers a free mentored home cooking course to learn how to make delicious, healthy meals cheaply and designed to be done at home at your own pace over Whatsapp or over the phone. To get you started, they send you a free bag of food to your door with all the ingredients you’ll need for 7 meals.
View Article

Replacement Household Appliances
LEAP (Local Energy Advice Partnership) provides advice and home visits But did you know they also support fuel poor and vulnerable households through the replacement of old, inefficient fridges, freezers, fridge-freezers, washing machines, and electric cookers with modern, efficient alternatives?
View Article

Are You Connecting to Warmth?
Warm Homes Sheffield is a partnership between Sheffield City Council and energy experts AgilityEco. It provides a route to access a number of energy saving programmes that can help Sheffield residents to reduce energy use and stay warm and well. It provides a range of fully-funded energy efficiency improvements for your home
View Article

Cost of Living Support – What’s New?
Sheffield City Council have introduced a separate phone number for people who want help to apply for the Household Support Fund on 0114 273 5258.Customers on prepayment meters have until 30th June 2023 to redeem their £400 vouchers under the energy bills support scheme.
View Article

Report Missing Cost of Living Payment
Have you received your 2023 cost of living payments? if not, the DWP have published an online form to report missing Cost of Living payments from earlier this year. You will need your national insurance number in order to complete the form.
View Article

We Speak, You Listen
Disability Sheffield’s learning disability and Autism group, Sheffield Voices, is holding their next ‘We Speak You Listen’ event at Hillsborough Arena on 26th May from 10am-2pm including lunch (provided).This month we are doing a session around the Cost of living and how it is impacting the learning disability community, as well as talking about the Learning Disability Strategy for Sheffield.
View Article

Cost of Living Support Workshop
Struggling to pay or make sense of your utility bills? Come along to this FREE session on Friday 28 April offered by Sheffield City Council to find out about the support available. In the second half of the session the team can support you with an application for a Household Support Fund grant. View Event

Prepayment Meter Latest
Ofgem has announced that all British domestic energy suppliers have signed up to an updated Code of Practice and tougher Ofgem oversight of the forced installation of prepayment meters, strengthening protections for customers in vulnerable situations. Citizens Advice and Ofgem have opened a phone line to support the national evidence call to ask energy customers to share their experiences of moving to a prepayment meter.
View Blog

Prepayment Meter Scandal Must End
Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has written to energy suppliers calling on them to stop the harmful and anxiety inducing practice of forcibly moving consumers over to prepayment meters without taking every step to support vulnerable consumers in difficulty.This follows after pressure from the voluntary sector, including Citizens Advice calling on energy companies to stop the practice.View Blog

Costly Differences Hit Disabled People’s Heating
We’re raising awareness during Energy Saving Week of a new report by the Resolution Foundation Thinktank showing that disabled people are being disproportionately hit by the cost of living crisis.Check out our Cost of Living Information Page if you are looking for support with energy bills and the Energy Saving Trust’s Warm Home Hacks.View Blog

2023/4 Cost of Living Payments
The Government has announced more detail on the payment schedule for the next round of cost of living support. Charities, including the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, have called on the government to do more to protect vulnerable households from soaring costs and support cuts. View Blog

LEAP into Energy Advice
Sheffield City Council is promoting a new free service helping people to keep warm and save on energy. The Local Energy Advice Service ( LEAP )provides free advice and acts as a first point of contact to put you in touch with support from organisations such as Groundworks Yorkshire and their Green Doctor scheme. View Blog

Cold Weather Payments
If you’re eligible to get cold weather payments, which help households pay for energy bills when temperatures plummet, you don’t need to apply – you’ll be paid it automatically, But if you think you should have received a cold weather payment and haven’t, here’s who to contact. View Blog

Help to Get Your Room Winter Ready
Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care has recently set up a free scheme to provide practical assistance to the over 65s to get rooms winter ready.Their team can help to move, for example ,furniture into or out of a room or away from radiators, retrieve stored blankets/clothes and collect small white goods such as heaters. View Blog

Cost Of Living Big Five
Citizens Advice Sheffield and their trained advisers are providing in-depth support to their clients to enable them to access local funding to help with the cost of living. Part of maximising a client’s income and providing debt advice is going through a checklist of the big 5 key schemes available through Sheffield City Council. View Blog

Write To Your MP About The Cost Of Living Crisis
The Action Network has set up a campaign urging disabled people to write to your MPs about the cost of living crisis. It calls for the government to help disabled people survive the current price increases and introduce new policies. The campaign is sponsored by Inclusion London and aims to go nationwide.View Blog